Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Washington 7 at Jacksonville 26 Washington Redskins: The Redskins offense was shut down by the Jaguars defense. QB Shane Matthews was inaccurate at times, and was unable to perform under pressure. RB Kenny Watson wasn't able to get going. He only got 8 carries in the first half. With the Redskins trailing in the second half, they had no option but to pass. WR Rod Gardner had a decent day today. He was one of the few receivers that Matthews threw to on a regular basis. Jacksonville Jaguars: After getting off to a slow start in the first half, the Jaguars offense came alive in the second half. RBs Fred Taylor and Stacey Mack led the way with 82 and 56 yards, respectively. Both of them seemed to come alive in the third quarter. Neither did much in the first half. WRs Jimmy Smith and Bobby Shaw both had big games. Smith had 5 catches for 68 yards, and Shaw had 3 catches for 69 yards. Detroit 14 at Green Bay 40 Detroit Lions: The Lions looked great... for exactly one play. After Joey Harrington tossed a beautiful 64 yard TD pass to Az-Zahir Hakim on the Lions very first play on offense, they promptly disappeared for the rest of the game. both on offense and on defense. Joey Harrington's numbers (20/44 for 236 yards, 2 TD's, 2 INT's) were decent considering how badly the Lions were dominated on both sides of the ball. Harrington didn't look that bad, and one of the INT's was a very catchable pass that Bill Schroeder let go through his hands and into the waiting hands of a Packer defender. The Lion defense was bad... very bad. They could not stop the Packer rush attack even though Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport both eventually left the game. The Lion secondary played like they weren't there and allowed Brett Favre to just pick them a part. James Stewart had a nice day despite the blow out, rushing for 122 yards on 15 carries (including a nice 56 yard rumble down the sidelines) for a 8.1 yards per carry average. Az-Zahir Hakim also had a decent game despite the dominance of the Packer defense, catching 7 passes for 143 yards and one TD. Hakim is Harrington's favorite receiver. Green Bay Packers: A well played game by both the Packer offense and defense. The Packers dominated the Lions the whole game... the only exceptions being the Lions first offensive play (a 64 yard TD pass) and a circus catch in the endzone by Lion TE Mikhael Ricks late in the fourth quarter. The Packer victory came at a price, as both RB Ahman Green and RB Najeh Davenport left with injuries. Greens took a nasty bump to his head on a tackle and left with neck problems and Davenport left the game after getting bent almost in half after a run and injuring his foot. Green and coach Mike Sherman say he'll be fine. Keep an eye on it though. Brett Favre showed no discomfort playing with his knee injury on his way to an impressive 26/39 for 351 yards, 2 TD, no interception performance. He was taken out of the game in the fourth quarter as a precaution so as not to risk further injury to his knee. Ryan Longwell had a good day kicking, hitting all four of his field goal attempts (with a 40 yarder his longest) and all four extra point attempts. Kansas City 13 at San Francisco 17 Kansas City Chiefs: Priest Holmes only had 56 yards combined and one TD, but his day could have been much bigger. Holmes had two big plays erased because of holding penalties. This game should not worry Holmes owners. Trent Green had a very average game. Though Green had good rapport with Eddie Kennison, Green could not find most of the other receivers. Green's day was made especially difficult because the 49er defense and LB Julian Peterson completely dominated Tony Gonzalez. Eddie Kennison is the kind of WR that will go for weeks without making any impact at all, and then one week he'll explode. This was one of those weeks. Kennison shredded the 49ers. Mark Boerigter looks a lot better than Johnny Morton. When Kansas City makes some upgrades at the WR position at the end of the season (and they most certainly will), the KC offense will be even more deadly. San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers looked a bit flat after beating their cross-town rivals (Oakland) last week. Though the 49er offense didn't not post great numbers, their running game was very good and won the game for them. QB Jeff Garcia had a surprisingly bad day, throwing for no TDs and one interception. Though Garcia played hard, his WR corps didn't give him much help. The SF running game continues to look great. Garrison Hearst had a very big game. On most weeks, Hearst and Barlow split carries fairly evenly. But on this day Hearst was more effective. New Orleans 34 at Carolina 24 New Orleans Saints: QB Aaron Brooks played just well enough to win this game but didn't help many fantasy teams, throwing for 259 yards and only 1 touchdown with 26 yards rushing. This is a case where the score wasn't an indication of offensive effectiveness. RB: One Saint that played at full speed was Deuce McAllister. His 104 total yards and two impressive touchdown runs were exactly what the Saints needed from him. Outstanding game. WR: Dont�' Stallworth appeared healthy and was a major part of the Saints passing game. He caught only 3 balls but one was a great 38 yarder that set up his own 7 yard touchdown reception. Carolina Panthers: QB Rodney Peete's first outing back from injury was impressive. He completed 23 of his 40 passes for 310 yards and had more completions except for 3 drops. His interception was not his fault but the result of the drop of a catchable ball by Muhammad. His presence definitely increases the value of all of the Panther offensive players. RB Lamar Smith was held in check most of the day and had several carries for negative yards. He did show power and determination at the goal line and scored on a 1 yard carry. Dee Brown spelled Lamar Smith more than usual and averaged 5.7 yards per carry on his 3 rushes. Brown definitely appears poised to vulture touches from Smith. WR Muhsin Muhammad had a hot and cold game. He caught 4 passes for 112 yards including one spectacular catch on a tipped ball while he was falling down for a 40 yard reception that lead to a Carolina touchdown. He also dropped 2 passes including one that he tipped in the air and was intercepted by the Saints. New England 33 at Chicago 30 New England Patriots: QB Tom Brady extended his league-leading touchdown total with 3 more scores through the air. He spread the ball to 11 different receivers, despite being under intense pressure from the revitalized Bear defense. Most of his damage (328 yards) came when Chicago switched to a prevent defense with 6:25 left in 3rd quarter, obviously too early. With New England being down by 21 points in the second half, RB Kevin Faulk saw most of the action. He grabbed 7 balls for 109 yards (8 targets), and two scores. He also rushed for 21 yards on 5 carries. WR Troy Brown is the definition of a possession receiver. He nabbed 11 balls for 90 yards (8.2 avg.), and had and amazing 14 targets. When QB Tom Brady is in trouble, he almost exclusively looks for Brown. K Adam Vinatieri is the most dependable kicker in the NFL today. He nailed a career long 57-yarder, to go along with 3 other field goals. Chicago Bears: QB Chris Chandler was knocked out early in the first half with a neck injury, and Jim Miller replaced him. Miller, still bothered by tendonitis, is having trouble making the deep throws so OC John Shoop's offensive scheme was based on the short throw, with downfield tosses being made by WR Marty Booker and RB Leon Johnson. RB Anthony Thomas had a great game, with 99 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, he could not get Chicago the 100th yard, when it counted the most. New England stuffed him on two consecutive plays, giving the Patriots the ball back for the chance to win. MLB Brian Urlacher continues to amaze every week. He had 9 tackles, 1 interception, and 2 tipped balls. He also made a spectacular play on a 2-pt conversion try by New England. He's only been playing linebacker for 3 years, folks. NY Giants 27 at Minnesota 20 New York Giants: Tiki Barber is the most potent weapon the Giants have and they used him well today. He finished with 127 yards and a TD on 24 carries. He added 46 more yards on 7 receptions. Ron Dayne only carried 6 times for 40 yards, but one of those runs was a 30 yard TD romp where he wasn't touched. Kerry Collins had a nice day at the office with 300 yards passing, 2 TDS, and 1 INT. He is money in the pocket, but highly ineffective when forced to scramble. His line protected him fairly well today. The Giants kicking game nearly did them in today with muffed snaps and bad holds. Matt Bryant missed two extra points and a field goal. Minnesota Vikings: Again; penalties destroyed this team. They committed 9 in the game and they always seemed to come at the wrong time; sustaining Giant drives. Daunte Culpepper was inaccurate with his passes today and wasn't getting his team into the endzone. He got frazzled at the first sign of trouble in the pocket and scrambled often. Mike Tice benched him in the third and he was visibly upset on the sideline, but kept his composure. Culpepper is still saying he's the QB but be very worried if you're counting on him. Todd Bouman came in to relieve Culpepper, and threw 6 passes. He completed 3 of them for 85 yards including 2 deep completions to Moss of about 40 yards each. One of them was inches away from being a TD. Instead, (vulture) Moe Williams took it in on the next play. The Minnesota pass defense continues to be weak allowing the Giants to throw for 300 yards and 2 TDS. Michael Bennett has improved his play; running 15 times for 167 yards including a beautiful 78 yard TD. Offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie made his Viking debut today. He looked dominant; man handling Kenny Holmes for most of the day. Houston 10 at Tennessee 17 Houston Texans: Houston's new pro football team traveled to Tennessee to face the old Houston Oilers (now the Titans). This was the first game of this sure to be heated rivalry. Owners Bob McNair (Texans) and Bud Adams (Titans), may be friends living in the same neighborhood. But the Houston public has different views of the ex Oiler owner. QB David Carr and the Texans offense had a tough time against an inspired Titan defense. Carr only threw for 182 yards with 2 interceptions. He did manage to throw a 10 yard touchdown. Carr had 2 fumbles and lost one of them. RB Jonathan Wells was held in check most of the night. He did have a couple of nice runs though. His longest went for 13 yards. WR JuJuan Dawson has moved up as the third WR for the team. They also seem to be using more 3 WR sets. They aren't just for third downs anymore. Dawson had a nice catch and run for 28 yards. As Dawson has moved up, Jermaine Lewis has been seeing less and less offensive action. Lewis is still very active on special teams though. Carr didn't seem to have a favorite target in this game. All of his targets saw equal action. Tennessee Titans: The Old Houston franchise beat the new one for their fourth consecutive win. The game didn't start well for QB Steve McNair. His first pass attempt of the game was picked off. On the next drive he calmed down and went 5/7 for 57 yards. The drive ended with a 13 yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason. McNair only passed for 109 yards but he threw two touchdowns. He also threw two interceptions in the game. RB Eddie George had 86 yards rushing and had a long run of 14 yards. He had 25 touches for 3.44 yards per carry. WR Derrick Mason was the only player with more than 1 catch for the Titans. TE Frank Wycheck was injured in the 1st quarter when he was hit trying to make the catch. He dropped the ball and left the game with a concussion. San Diego 24 at St. Louis 28 San Diego Chargers: Drew Brees had another poor game. Even with his bad effort, he was given the chance to win the game on the final drive, but instead, he threw his second interception in the end zone. Tomlinson again ran well. He is a hard runner who is worth starting every week. Stephen Alexander, who was the team's top receiver last week, was not used as much this week. Instead, Tim Dwight got the balls over the middle. The Charger defense remembered how to strip the ball again and forced four fumbling turnovers. The special teams also did great until they allowed the Rams a successful onside kick. St. Louis Rams: Mark Bulger had a career game. He kept his poise and threw strike after strike. His solid play will allow Warner to fully heal before returning. Marshall Faulk was limited most of the game. He was held to only 72 total yards before leaving the field with a high ankle sprain which broke his streak of 3 straight 150+ yard rushing games. Isaac Bruce had a monster day on his birthday. He made several circus type catches and single handedly brought the Rams back to win scoring 3 touchdowns. Jeff Wilkins made two big plays. He kicked a successful on side kick late in the fourth quarter with a textbook high bouncer. Then, after the Rams took the lead, he made a tackle on the kickoff return that could have gone for the game winning touchdown. Atlanta 34 at Pittsburgh 34 Atlanta Falcons: QB Michael Vick at times looked like the inexperienced quarterback that he is. He committed two grounding penalties, threw dangerous passes to avoid sacks, and was unable to hit his receivers where they could gain yards after the catch. However, he was able to make big plays on third and long and led a comeback in which the Falcons scored 17 points in the fourth quarter. Still only has one interception on the season. And still twice as quick as any player on the field. RB Warrick Dunn got his twenty carries but was contained most of the game. Could not work the ball inside and the speed of the Steeler linebackers snuffed him outside. Broke a 59-yarder for a touchdown on third down and less than a yard to go. WR Shawn Jefferson was Vick's primary target while Brian Finneran had a tough game dropping two passes in the red zone. Pittsburgh Steelers: QB Tommy Maddox broke a Steeler record with 473 yards passing. What else can you say? RB Amos Zereoue got the start. Started by gaining zero yards on five carries in the first quarter. The passing game eventually opened up the run. Made nice cuts on a 14-yard gain. Took a direct snap and bounced runs outside nicely. Dropped a screen pass. WR Plaxico Burress broke a Steeler record with 253 yards receiving. Made a great catch on a tipped ball in double coverage for a 33-yard touchdown. Hines Ward was effective as well but it does seem clear that Burress is the primary threat. Cincinnati 27 at Baltimore 38 Cincinnati Bengals: Corey Dillon played well getting big gains and plowing up the gut for 102 yards. Dillon also showed the ability to make the catch and pick up yards as he had 5 catches for 48 yards. Jon Kitna was decent but threw critical interceptions that allowed Baltimore to get the lead. Kitna spread the ball out to 10 different receivers and was able to find the open receiver. Chad Johnson came alive during the game, as he was in sync with Kitna getting 7 catches for 110 yards and a TD. Johnson exploded past the defensive back for the 39-yard TD. Baltimore Ravens: Jamal Lewis gained 135 yards on 21 carries and just couldn't be stopped as he plowed deep into the defense and broke several runs for big gains. Jeff Blake was given a soft zone coverage by the Bengals and just shredded the defense apart hitting everywhere underneath and picking the spots to get deep. Blake only had 183 yards and a TD because of the success of the run game. Travis Taylor played up to his potential as he got 7 catches for 52 yards and a TD underneath the defense. Todd Heap continued to be a solid performer with 4 catches for 65 yards and dominated the LBs through the day. Miami 10 at NY Jets 13 Miami Dolphins: QB Ray Lucas' stats would indicate he played a fairly decent game. He did make a few good passes here and there but overall he was not very effective. He should have been intercepted on a number of occasions. Twice he hit Donnie Abraham in the hands only to have the Jets DB drop what would have been sure interceptions. On another pass, Abraham DID pick the pass off but Lucas was bailed out by a penalty away from the ball on New York. He was also nearly intercepted by Sam Cowart at the 5-yard line of a drive Miami needed to get points on. WR Chris Chambers is performing under expectations, but perhaps people set their expectations for him too high. After all, 4 of his 7 touchdown receptions last season came against the Colts defense. With that being said, Chambers is a huge talent with a flair for making the impossible catch. He made three separate incredible catches (one of which was a touchdown that was overturned because he lost possession as he hit the ground). Based on a per carry average, RB Ricky Williams has now had five consecutive poor games (New England-2.9, Buffalo-2.4, Denver-3.9, Green Bay-3.4, Jets-2.7). Williams doesn't appear to be running any differently than he did earlier in the season except for the fact that the competition is getting more difficult and Jay Fiedler is not there to take some pressure off. In addition, the Jets have been much better against the run since their bye week. That, coupled with most teams' decision to focus on stopping the Miami running game (since Fiedler has been out), is most likely the reason for Williams' recent struggles. New York Jets: The much-maligned Jets rush defense has actually been one of the better units in the NFL since their bye week. It was reported during the game that in the Jets first 5 games, they allowed an average of 191 rushing yards per game. In their last 3, they have allowed just 72 rushing yards per game. Tonight against Miami and Ricky Williams, they allowed just 69 rushing yards. In the past month, the Jets have allowed 56 yards to Michael Bennett, 25 to Jamel White, 60 to LaDainian Tomlinson, and 53 to Ricky Williams. Regardless of whether or not the Jets are able to get back into the playoffs, one thing they can take from this season is that they have found their franchise quarterback. Chad Pennington is very aware of his surroundings at all times and never appears to get rattled. Pennington did not complete 70% of his passes today---only 63%. RB Curtis Martin had a decent game because he scored a touchdown, otherwise his yardage totals were very ordinary. Martin also briefly left the game after re-injuring his bad ankle but he later returned. Interestingly, it was LaMont Jordan, not Martin, who carried the load for New York on what turned out to be the game-winning drive. Seattle 27 at Arizona 6 Seattle Seahawks: Post game box score panic ran rampant across the county for all Shaun Alexander owners when they saw that Maurice Morris had 15 carries for 72 yards rushing while Alexander managed only 42 yards on 12 carries. The bulk of the Morris yardage happened in the fourth quarter during mop up time. However, Morris did get two carries on Seattle's opening drive and had 4 carries for 22 yards at the half. Koren Robinson has responded well to being the number one WR and continues to make the plays that Seattle expected him to make when they drafted him last season in the first round. The Seattle defense that we count on to give up nearly 200 yards on the ground each week did a better job this week of not getting run over entirely, until Marcel Shipp entered the game that is. As soon as Shipp entered the game Seattle started giving up large chunks of yardage on the ground. Arizona Cardinals: This could finally be the end for RB Thomas Jones in Arizona. Or is it? Marcel Shipp ran the ball so much better than Jones on the day that there is absolutely no question with regard to talent and desire. The crazy aspect to this was Shipp fumbled twice inside the 5 yard line after back to back long Arizona drives in the second half. QB Jake Plummer's days in Arizona may also be numbered. After yet another lack luster performance one has to wonder if Plummer will take a huge pay cut to stay in Arizona next year. One also has to wonder if the Cardinals will want him back at all. WR Jason McAddley was inactive only two weeks ago. He made several nice grabs including a long catch off a flee-clicker on the opening play of the game. With David Boston out, it would have made sense that TE Freddie Jones would have been a bigger part of the passing game plan today. He was targeted only twice in the game. One was intercepted. The other was dropped. Indianapolis 35 at Philadelphia 13 Indianapolis Colts: RB James Mungro, making his first career start because Edgerrin James and Ricky Williams are out with hamstring injuries, had TD runs of 6 and 10 yards. He ran hard and was effective behind an excellent job from the offensive line. WR Marvin Harrison was outstanding and finished with six catches for 137 yards. The Colt's Passing game came alive as Manning found and delivered the ball to open receivers all day. "It felt like a track meet out there," said Eagles Pro Bowl cornerback Troy Vincent, who was beat by Harrison on the TD pass. Philadelphia Eagles: QB Donovan McNabb threw for 281 yards and one TD and ran for 62 yards, but dropped a pass on a critical fourth-and-1 in the third quarter and also lost 2 fumbles. The Eagles running backs jumped out to a fast start, gaining 30 yards rushing on the first drive, but then were shut down, gaining only 24 yards the rest of the way. Duce Staley was a non factor on the day. McNabb's 64 rushing yards were the only bright spot for the Eagle's running game on the day. Oakland 34 at Denver 10 Oakland Raiders: The Raiders put on quite a show for Monday Night's 500th game. Rich Gannon set a single game record for completing 21 consecutive passes. Jerry Rice caught his 200th and 201st career touchdowns. Trace Armstrong recorded his 100th sack. The only thing missing was a close game. During a pre-game interview Jerry Rice said he brought his 'A-game'. His numbers prove him right as he continues to be the go-to receiver in Oakland. He had 4 catches for 24 and a TD in the first half and then exploded for 79 yards on 5 catches in the second half with another TD. The guy has more TD's and more yards from scrimmage than any other football player ever and he looks like he could play another 2 or 3 years. Rich Gannon's performance may be as close to perfect as you will ever see. He threw 34-38 for 352 yards 3 touchdowns and a 2-point conversion. His offensive line gave him all the time in the world. He continually sat back in the pocket and threw short yardage passes to wide open receivers while eating clock all night long. He was simply amazing to watch. There was no running game to speak of. Not because it wasn't working, but for lack of trying. Charlie Garner must not have been in good condition, because they only ran him 5 times. Even in the 4th quarter, when the game was out of hand, the Raiders chose to throw short passes to keep the clock running. They totaled 27 yards on the ground. Oakland scored on its first 6 possessions. They weren't stopped until the fourth quarter. Denver Broncos: Clinton Portis had a great 1st half. Unfortunately the Broncos were forced to throw for most of the 2nd half. He totaled 50 yards on the ground, 26 yards in the air, and 1 rushing touchdown. This guy is fast and fun to watch. Rod Woodson intercepted a pass that was meant for Portis in the end zone. Mike Anderson spelled him occasionally but it was never for more than a play or two. Brian Griese came out flat tonight. After throwing an ugly interception to Rod Woodson that was returned for a touchdown, he seemed to lose confidence. He did have nice yardage numbers completing 34 passes for 293 yards but failed to throw a completion into the end zone. A great Brian Griese night may not have been enough to win this game. Shannon Sharpe left the game in the first quarter with a dislocated elbow. He almost made an incredible 1-handed catch downfield, but got tangled up with Romanowski on the landing. The play was challenged and upheld. This had to have hurt the Bronco's game plan. Rod Smith and Ashley Lelie had 8 catches each for a combined 137 yards but no TD's. Ed McCaffrey also had 6 catches for 54 yards.